Ceramic materials are utilized to produce items that benefit from their inherent high temperature strength, thermal stability, abrasion resistance and a thermal conductivity that can be varied widely depending on the specific materials system and relative density. As such, ceramic materials are particularly useful heat shields. For example, thermal management of the frictional heating of space vehicle skins in particular presents some especially challenging problems that can be met with these materials. Optimal design is constrained by weight considerations, which penalize active cooling or solely ablative systems and reward structures that combine thermal and structural functions. In particular, vehicle performance may be optimized by the use of hot structures that combine thermal management materials. Furthermore, because machining thermal heat shields adds expense and increased production time, processing approaches that can be used to manufacture net-shaped or near net-shaped components are particularly attractive.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a ceramic structure capable of overcoming the disadvantages described herein at least to some extent.